Philippines AirAsia will skirt future growth at Manila Ninoy Aquino Int’ldue to serious capacity constraints and instead will focus its development at regional hubs in Clark, Cebu, Kalibo, Puerto Princesa, and Panglao, an airport set to replace Tagbilaran by the end of 2018, CEO Dexter M. Comendador has told the Business Mirror.
“These will be opened up as hubs because we are lacking space in Manila, and in the next 10 years, we should have 70 planes. So we need to distribute the planes to the countryside. It will spread; then development will follow,” Comendador has said.
The Filipino unit of AirAsia Group currently operates 399 weekly departures, 38% of all its flights, out of the capital airport in the country. Cebu, its second-largest base, is served with 160 weekly departures. However, these proportions may soon change.
According to the ch-aviation fleets module, Philippines AirAsia currently operates twenty-one A320 aircraft. It is set to receive around fifty more A320 Family jets, possibly including A320neo, in the next 10 years.
In line with a government directive, Philippine Airlines (PR, Manila Ninoy Aquino Int’l) has also announced that it, too, will focus on regional airports as the capital gateway lacks space for growth.
Comendador has also reaffirmed Philippines AirAsia’s plan to launch an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in the fourth quarter of 2018. Philippines AirAsia intends to raise around USD200 million and float up to 30% of its shares.